Japan will free up part of its private-sector oil stockpile at an amount equal to 12 percent of the International Energy Agency's planned release of 60 million barrels following Hurricane Katrina, government officials said Saturday.
Tokyo's move came after the 26-member IEA, including Japan, agreed Friday in Paris to release oil, gasoline or other petroleum products from their emergency reserves in an attempt to bring down soaring prices and avert domestic shortages.
Japan last tapped its stockpile in 1991 during the Gulf War as part of world efforts to curb soaring oil prices.
The timing of the release of the oil will be decided in view of similar moves by other IEA members, the officials said, adding it could come as soon as this week.
The IEA requires each of its members to maintain oil reserves equivalent to at least 90 days worth of consumption.
As of June 30, Japan had oil reserves equivalent to 170 days, consisting of the private-sector stockpile of about 79 days and government reserves of about 91 days, according to the officials.
About half of the private-sector reserves are already in the form of oil products easier to release in an emergency, they said. The government stockpile has never been tapped.
The Paris-based IEA said Friday its 26 members agreed to release the equivalent of 2 million barrels of oil per day from their strategic reserves for an initial period of 30 days as part of the global response to help the oil market deal with the effects of the powerful hurricane.
Hurricane Katrina ripped through U.S. Gulf Coast states, ravaging oil production facilities and sending crude oil futures to a record high of more than $70 per barrel.